Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan – Ramblin’ Man

If ever two voices were placed together by a sheer and wonderful accident of circumstance, it would be those of the angelic Isobel Campbell (late of Belle & Sebastian) and the notoriously gruff and scratchy Mark Lanegan (late of Queens of the Stone Age and Screaming Trees). Presented in the style of classic Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazlewood albums of the 1960’s, Ballad of the Broken Seas is filled with folk-country dirges, whispers, bluesy melancholy and love songs evoking haunted corners and dimmed streetlights. Hazlewood, whom Lanegan has always cited as one of his major influences, is paid fair tribute in this collection of works. The album also serves as a powerful showcase for Campbell’s golden voice, a lilting and graceful cacophony shimmering brightly against the hard grain of Lanegan’s sandpaper grit.

Where the album is careful, it is deeply enchanting. Where the songs are bold, they are reminiscent of Lanegan’s greatest solo work, terrifying and broken like the tales of the souls the songs are about. Ballad of the Broken Seas stands on its own merits while paying homage to the style from which it was born, and the combination of harmony and hard times have never sounded so beautiful as they do here. Enjoy this gritty cover of Hank Williams’ “Ramblin’ Man”, and don’t say I never gave you anything worth remembering.

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